In the commonly owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,405,630, 5,362,507, 5,564,332, 5,436,017, 5,449,524 and 5,505,972, there are described processes and machines for introducing solutions of various compounds into pieces of meat, including poultry breasts and pieces of red meat, pork products and the like.
These solutions, which can be termed marinades, pickles, tenderizing solutions and the like, can be injected by needle and generally are massaged into the piece of meat by, for example, a paddle massager and/or a rotating-drum tumbler. Reference may be had in this connection to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,405,630 and 5,564,332.
Details of the types of solutions which may be used can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,362,507 and 5,436,017 and, where poultry carcasses are injected, differential introduction of the solution is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,449,524 and 5,505,972.
We have found that earlier systems for treating pieces of meat, regardless of the animal source and even regardless of the shape, size, nature of the muscle tissue and like factors, can be improved by additionally incising the piece of meat and/or by subjecting the pieces of meat, after injection, alternately to compression and expansion.